----- Original Message -----
From: "Rachel Tanenhaus" <rtanenhaus@adaptiveenvironments.org>
To: "Jerry Weichbrodt" <gerald.g.weichbrodt@ived.gm.com>;
<w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: Longdesc attribute for images
> Jerry Weichbrodt wrote the following:
>
>
> > Yes, it's true that graphical browsers used without AT have little use
for
> > the long description since the non-AT user presumeably can view the
image
> > directly.
>
> Hmmm. Not entirely true - I have low vision myself, and I sometimes have
> difficulty seeing detailed graphics, such as charts/graphs/etc. A
> description can help fill in the details for me. I don't use a
> screenreader, but I find things like alt tags, d-links, etc. to be quite
> useful, because they let me know what I *didn't* see, if that makes sense.
Excellent point, and I stand corrected. As well, long descriptions should
by all rights be available to anyone browsing with images disabled. Perhaps
a note to mswish@microsoft.com and whatever other feedback addresses are
available from the other browser vendors is in order?
Cheers,
Jerry